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Saturday, June 30, 2012

Beervana Summer #1

I'm going to try to crank out quite a few Summer Beervanas to play catch up, and there will for sure be a saison dedicated one later in the summer, and a sour one as well. Let's just start with some stuff I picked up on a hot day, and am now drinking on another hot day.

Hinterland IPA - this drinks like an English IPA. A malt backbone and slight toffee presence balance out a crisp and dry, bitter hop finish. Hop aroma doesn't sock you in the face, but there's a nice hint of grass and oranges. A bit of sulfur but nothing to fret about. The reviews on beer advocate seem to completely misunderstand a really solid offering from this small brewpub in Wisconsin. No surprise that this Green Bay IPA would go well with some stiff cheese and mustard. The pint bottles are a nice touch too.

Arcadia Sky High Rye - let me say two completely different things about this beer. 1) it is a nice, subtle, refreshing beer. It's an american pale ale with a bit of spice and fruitiness, backed up by a sweet bread flavor reminiscent of darker breads. The fruit leans summery, but it's not cloying. This is still a subtle beer. 2) IT IS SUBTLE, this isn't the hop bomb-y, west coast pale ale you'd expect from the Arcadia website description. Rather, it is what a west coast pale ale might have been 15 years ago, had someone thrown 20% rye in the grain bill.